American University of Sharjah's (AUS) Office of Student Affairs (OSA) in collaboration with the AUS Student Council hosted a special gathering in honor of the university's cleaning staff from Cleanco Cleaning Services and Building Maintenance. The event was held recently at the university's Student Center.

Prior to the event, OSA's Community Services launched the "Spread a Smile Campaign," which ran for three weeks to raise funds for the event. Student volunteers collected donations from across campus and received an overwhelming support from students, faculty and staff.

Addressing the more than 160 cleaners and their supervisors, English and Hindi speaking emcees from the Student Council welcomed the crowd and conveyed their appreciation on behalf of the student body. Dressed in red t-shirts with a smiley face, the Cleanco staff enjoyed the games, activities and prizes prepared for them. The event also included a singing and dancing segment wherein some of the Cleanco staff displayed their talents on stage.

"On behalf of the AUS community, I wish to thank the Cleanco staff for their hard work in keeping our campus tidy and making it a better place for all of us. This special gathering is a token of our appreciation for all of you and this is in recognition of your services and all the good work you do at AUS," said Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. "Special thanks to the student volunteers for all their efforts in making this event meaningful and to all those who contributed and supported this event in many ways," she added.

"It is tiring work to put the event together, but it is worthwhile when we see smiles on all their faces for being appreciated for their hard work all year round," said Shanzeh Shafiq, a senior mass communication student who worked as a volunteer for the event.

The event concluded with a lunch and the distribution of appreciation certificates and gift bags.

"We thank AUS for this very thoughtful gesture. Our staff expresses their joy and happiness knowing that the AUS community appreciates their hard work," said Renganathan Mohan, Operations Manager of Cleanco, who attended the event.

The event was also attended by senior OSA officials and members of the AUS community.